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In January 2023, Viacom18, a media company based in Mumbai, India, had acquired the global television and digital broadcast rights of Women's Premier League Cricket Tournament (WPL) for five years (from 2023-2027) with a bid of INR9.51 billion. The WPL was organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The inaugural WPL tournament had five city-based team franchises. The franchises were collectively sold in an auction organised by BCCI in January 2023 for USD580 million. The franchises had selected players for their teams at an auction organised by BCCI. A USD1.5 million cap was laid down for each of the franchises. WPL franchises had attracted sponsorship deals and placement of advertisements from a number of companies and business houses. Viacom18 had boarded sponsors such as Hero Vida, BoB, MPL Striker, World Gold Council, H&M, JSW Paints, Noise and Apar Industries for its WPL Live broadcast. The inaugural WPL had won many plaudits. WPL was expected to become the leading franchise competition in women's cricket. Marketing experts had said that WPL was 'a good property'. However, Viacom18 would face a number of challenges to obtain ROI on the investment made. Was Viacom18's investment in WPL a smart move?